Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2018 Feb;32(2):473-484.
doi: 10.1177/0890117117733342. Epub 2017 Nov 29.

Healthy Immigrant Families: Randomized Controlled Trial of a Family-Based Nutrition and Physical Activity Intervention

Mark L Wieland  1 , Marcelo M M Hanza  2 , Jennifer A Weis  3 , Sonja J Meiers  4 , Christi A Patten  5 , Matthew M Clark  5 , Jeff A Sloan  6 , Paul J Novotny  6 , Jane W Njeru  1 , Adeline Abbenyi  7 , James A Levine  8 , Miriam Goodson  9 , Graciela D Porraz Capetillo  10 , Ahmed Osman  11 , Abdullah Hared  11 , Julie A Nigon  12 , Irene G Sia  13
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Healthy Immigrant Families: Randomized Controlled Trial of a Family-Based Nutrition and Physical Activity Intervention

Mark L Wieland et al. Am J Health Promot. 2018 Feb.

Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate a healthy eating and physical activity intervention for immigrant families, derived through community-based participatory research.

Design: The Healthy Immigrant Families study was a randomized controlled trial with delayed intervention control group, with families as the randomization unit.

Setting: US Midwest city.

Participants: Participants were recruited by community partners from Hispanic, Somali, and Sudanese immigrant communities.

Intervention: Family health promoters from participating communities delivered 6 healthy eating modules, 4 physical activity modules, and 2 modules synthesizing information in 12 home visits (60-90 minutes) within the first 6 months. Up to 12 follow-up phone calls to each participant occurred within the second 6 months.

Measures: Primary measures were dietary quality measured with weekday 24-hour recall and reported as Healthy Eating Index score (0-100) and physical activity measured with accelerometers (14 wear days) at baseline, 6, 12, and 24 months.

Results: In total, 151 persons (81 adolescents and 70 adults; 44 families) were randomly assigned. At 12 months, significant improvement occurred in Healthy Eating Index scores for adults in the intervention group compared with controls (change, +8.6 vs -4.4; P < .01) and persisted at 24 months (+7.4 from baseline; P < .01). No differences were observed for adolescents and no significant differences occurred between groups for physical activity.

Conclusion: This intervention produced sustained dietary quality improvement among adults but not among adolescents. Program outcomes are relevant to communities working to decrease cardiovascular risk among immigrant populations.

Keywords: community-based participatory research; dietary quality; immigrant–refugee health; physical activity.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests: J. A. Levine provides advice to Kersh Health, inventor of the accelerometer used in this study, without financial gain. The other authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure
Figure
Flowchart of Healthy Immigrant Families Study Overview.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Passel JS, Cohn D. US population projections: 2005–2050. Washington, DC: Pew Research Center; c2008.
    1. Singh GK, Siahpush M. All-cause and cause-specific mortality of immigrants and native born in the United States. Am J Public Health. 2001 Mar;91(3):392–9. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Goel MS, McCarthy EP, Phillips RS, Wee CC. Obesity among US immigrant subgroups by duration of residence. JAMA. 2004 Dec 15;292(23):2860–7. - PubMed
    1. Kaplan MS, Huguet N, Newsom JT, McFarland BH. The association between length of residence and obesity among Hispanic immigrants. Am J Prev Med. 2004 Nov;27(4):323–6. - PubMed
    1. Koya DL, Egede LE. Association between length of residence and cardiovascular disease risk factors among an ethnically diverse group of United States immigrants. J Gen Intern Med. 2007 Jun;22(6):841–6. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types